House buying/owning advice

[EuroCat]

Get a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30 year mortgage.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/15-year-30-year-mortgage-calculator.aspx

Why not just get a 30y and put extra cash towards the principle each month?

[wabash909]

A few words of sage advice:  

Be realistic about the fixer upper.  If you're not a fixer upper kind of guy, don't think you're magically going to turn into one because you're getting a great deal.  Home improvements generally cost twice the amount you originally budgeted and take four times the length of time you have allotted.

It's important to keep this mind when embarking on that bathroom or kitchen renovation or any other major improvement that you're all psyched up about and then have a kid and never finish it.  You want to live in your house, not have it be a construction zone for the rest of your life.

I would also suggest you do as much as you can before moving into the property, especially things like refinishing hardwood floors.  You will never do it once you move into the house and get settled.

Congrats on home ownership.  

[CNS]

Storage, bro.  Look for adequate storage.  Lots of/most new homes have crap for storage.    Look for good closets and lots of them(hall, bath, and bed).

Also, watch out for mold.  Most dumbass builders don't protect the home from mold property by putting the vapor barrier(plastic sheeting) on the correct side of the insulation.  Go into the basement and see if you can find unfinished areas with insulation showing.  If the plastic is on the inside, you may eventually have mold issues.  This is going to be a huge epidemic in our generation.  Too many shitty houses built in the '90's and 2000's w/ bad code enforcement.  If you ask your realtor about this, they will tell you that there are two schools of thought on this.  Don't listen to that crap.  Either it's right or its wrong, and if wrong, they don't prevent anything...they actually increase the ability for mold to grow.

Also, look for adequate drainage. Sounds Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!), but make sure that the ground slopes away from the home so that water doesn't run to the house.  

[Skipper44]

property virgins >>>>>>> house hunters

i disagree.  there's only so much rinomato i can handle.  now, has house hunters changed for the worse since suzanne whang left?  some may argue that yes, it has. i'm not so sure i agree and actually feel it's better than ever.  if given the opportunity, rinomato will drag you through every square inch of toronto while the post-whang house hunters spends more time in the united states.    who knows, tough call.

But either version is better than property virgins.  I mean, "Jeff looks for his first slab home in Louisville, KY with his pleutonic lady friend" vs. "some navy dude and his babe hit Ecudoar to find a beachfront chill pad".  JFC

agreed 100%.  well stated.  thank you for taking out the trash (rinomato) with the quick yet lethal stroke of your plume.

Renovation Realities owns all, can't beat the in over his head husband hurling insults at his crying wife  

[Stevesie60]

Get a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30 year mortgage.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/15-year-30-year-mortgage-calculator.aspx

Why not just get a 30y and put extra cash towards the principle each month?

Nobody ever follows through in doing that.

[michigancat]

rent

[sys]

living out in the middle of nowhere vs in town (not like a city area with lots of stuff to do/walk to, just lots of houses around and easy driving to stores vs 30 minutes to town)?

older house (20s-50s) vs 90s-00s version?


are there a lot of regional differences in construction standards/modes?  i looked at a couple of house here and they appeared to have been built by retards.

[chum1]

property virgins >>>>>>> house hunters

i disagree.  there's only so much rinomato i can handle.  now, has house hunters changed for the worse since suzanne whang left?  some may argue that yes, it has. i'm not so sure i agree and actually feel it's better than ever.  if given the opportunity, rinomato will drag you through every square inch of toronto while the post-whang house hunters spends more time in the united states.    who knows, tough call.

without rinomoto's financial guidance, what brand of lube do you recommend for tortuga's bad person?  maybe house hunters should produce their very own house hunters brand lube for assholes.  maybe sandra rimomoto can be the spokeswoman.  whang can't do it because she became too chicken crap to show her face on camera once rinomoto came on the scene.

[cracka]

living out in the middle of nowhere vs in town (not like a city area with lots of stuff to do/walk to, just lots of houses around and easy driving to stores vs 30 minutes to town)?

older house (20s-50s) vs 90s-00s version?


are there a lot of regional differences in construction standards/modes?  i looked at a couple of house here and they appeared to have been built by retards.

[size=18t]Windows, Windows, Windows.

[EuroCat]

Get a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30 year mortgage.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/15-year-30-year-mortgage-calculator.aspx

Why not just get a 30y and put extra cash towards the principle each month?

Nobody ever follows through in doing that.

Seems like a lot of risk to take on just because you have no self control.

Then again, i'm not a homeowner. All of my money is spent on elite apparel at Joseph A Bank.

[wetwillie]

How come no one asked him why he wants to buy a house? Tortuga why do you want to buy a house? Your answer will help guide our advice.

[CNS]

people buy houses because they can and because any time you can remove authority from above yourself, you should.

[hemmy]

Buy a tax repo, you can find them for super cheap.

[michigancat]

people buy houses because they can and because any time you can remove authority from above yourself, you should.

instead of a small time landlord the authority is a bank when you buy. (unless you buy w/ cash, which tortuga won't.)

[sys]

any time you can remove authority from above yourself, you should.

wake up to your police state, america.

[pissclams]

property virgins >>>>>>> house hunters

i disagree.  there's only so much rinomato i can handle.  now, has house hunters changed for the worse since suzanne whang left?  some may argue that yes, it has. i'm not so sure i agree and actually feel it's better than ever.  if given the opportunity, rinomato will drag you through every square inch of toronto while the post-whang house hunters spends more time in the united states.    who knows, tough call.

without rinomoto's financial guidance, what brand of lube do you recommend for tortuga's bad person?  maybe house hunters should produce their very own house hunters brand lube for assholes.  maybe sandra rimomoto can be the spokeswoman.  whang can't do it because she became too chicken crap to show her face on camera once rinomoto came on the scene.

rinomato doesn't give two shits about tortuga and will do everything she can to screw him in the deal. anyone that trusts that canadian with money deserves the crap they find themselves in.    no one even gives two shits about rinomato in toronto.  i've talked to a ton of people who think she's crap and she screwed her own people by stealing money from them when she was coming up.  not a big shocker there, the lady is a steaming pile of crap.   why would you send someone into a house without touring the piece of crap with them?  is this how brokers do  crap in the new real estate market?  hey here's a house go look at it and when you're done come find me and we'll talk about the crap and then put in a bid on the home.  ya right, great customer service sandy, great crap job.  tortuga could bust out his home search in probably 6 episodes of hunters as opposed to 18 episodes of virgins.

[gokatgo]

Don't look at houses you can't afford....it makes houses you can afford seem shitty

[michigancat]

Also tortuga, realtors are the absolute worst.

Also factor in paying for random repairs the old landlord used to take care of. things like heaters and dishwashers and hot water heaters and crap.

[steve dave]

pro-tip > build

[chum1]

property virgins >>>>>>> house hunters

i disagree.  there's only so much rinomato i can handle.  now, has house hunters changed for the worse since suzanne whang left?  some may argue that yes, it has. i'm not so sure i agree and actually feel it's better than ever.  if given the opportunity, rinomato will drag you through every square inch of toronto while the post-whang house hunters spends more time in the united states.    who knows, tough call.

without rinomoto's financial guidance, what brand of lube do you recommend for tortuga's bad person?  maybe house hunters should produce their very own house hunters brand lube for assholes.  maybe sandra rimomoto can be the spokeswoman.  whang can't do it because she became too chicken crap to show her face on camera once rinomoto came on the scene.

rinomato doesn't give two shits about tortuga and will do everything she can to screw him in the deal. anyone that trusts that canadian with money deserves the crap they find themselves in.    no one even gives two shits about rinomato in toronto.  i've talked to a ton of people who think she's crap and she screwed her own people by stealing money from them when she was coming up.  not a big shocker there, the lady is a steaming pile of crap.   why would you send someone into a house without touring the piece of crap with them?  is this how brokers do  crap in the new real estate market?  hey here's a house go look at it and when you're done come find me and we'll talk about the crap and then put in a bid on the home.  ya right, great customer service sandy, great crap job.  tortuga could bust out his home search in probably 6 episodes of hunters as opposed to 18 episodes of virgins.

well, well, well.  looks like hh might just not be the innocent little show that they want you to think it is.  just what the hell is going on over at house hunters?

.“They have apparently hired someone to do the voiceovers— who fans of mine are claiming is some woman who is trying to sound like me“

http://blog.blogtalkradio.com/celebrities/house-hunters-host-suzanne-whang-hgtv-fans-beg-differ-dispensable/

[The Whale]

Print out a copy of this thread and keep a copy with you when house hunting

[ew2x4]

pro-tip > build

Amish?

[Kat Kid]

So far great advice from everyone.  At the bank I took clams advice, but was subtle.  Also, is a 3.85 interest rate good or am I going to get clowned on here?

[yoga-like_abana]

So far great advice from everyone.  At the bank I took clams advice, but was subtle.  Also, is a 3.85 interest rate good or am I going to get clowned on here?

Thats not terrible but you might be able to do better.

[Cire]

what someone else said about fixer uppers, I bought one and I hate doing all that crap and have ended up paying people to do most of it.